Fan film review: Return To Camp Blood

Gary Mongar, who for a short while was known for the fan films he would make with his family. He did a Halloween fan film (the name escapes me at the moment) that was pretty good and I remember seeing the trailer for this and eagerly anticipated it. When it was released I was really let down.




 The movie really isn't bad, but the really bad CGI takes me out of it. I am a firm believer that if you can not afford (or don't know how to do) good CGI- don't use it! CGI in low budget CG rarely looks good, and I have never seen it look good in a fan film. Most of this film looks like it was shot in front of a green screen and it's a shame. The location where the practical shots were done have a very nice atmosphere to it. I just think the CG was overdone, in scenes where it was not needed. Interiors of an office, doors, rooms, and so on were all CG and they looked bad- like cartoons.

The Jason look appears to be a Freddy vs. Jason look with (again) a bad hockey mask. I think Gary himself played Jason (as well as Tommy Jarvis) and the portly look Jason has really ended up a bit more comical than scary. Of course, like a lot of fan films Jason had to be glued to that fucking machete.

Otherwise, Mongar did a good job with the direction and photography as well as the post-production, all of which makes this fan film worthwhile. In the end it just a cute little fan film that Mongar did with family and friends- nothing more, nothing less, which makes the fan film a little more enjoyable.

To this day the full movie and trailer can still be downloaded at www.TheForce.net.